That's a lot of writing. The book is 582 pages long, but it's really less than that, probably 555 pages or whatever, without all the contents stuff. It's about 104,000 words in all. And a ton of shots, of course. I do like to be visual.

More to the point, it was a lot of work. But it's winding down.

Anyway. Here's what we could "sign off on" as the 1.0 release barring any major issues. This is the version we'll push out to Amazon Kindle and other e-book platforms. More on that when we know more. But once 1.0 does happen, we'll look at updating the book. We have a list of stuff we'd like to add, and of course many of you have written in with some ideas too. So that will be the focus after we get this milestone out of the way.

Feedback is always appreciated. Never more so than now.

One more thing

A number of readers have noted that the logo and design for the book cover has a distinctly "Indiana Jones" vibe to it. Right! Most people seem to like it, and it's the result of some fun interplay with Martin McClean, who made the design happen. He also sent the following fun image over after someone complained that book doesn't have an "Indiana Paul" graphic. I won't be including this in the book, but Martin complied. :)

Hi. One small complaint. Does the book assume you have the update that will be available on April 8? I ask because I don't seem to have an option "Show Windows Store apps on the taskbar." listed on page 139 (PDF version)

I think this book will be especially beneficial and helpful for people new to Windows 8. Unlike other versions of Windows, Windows 8 is pretty confusing for people who are new to it. I was honestly pretty perplexed by Windows 8 when it came out as a long time Windows user.

On Monday, 3/31, I went to the website and purchased the book. The pdf version that was delivered said it was version 0.90, not 1.0. Please update. Also, this is kinda old school, but can you put actual page numbers on the pages? Makes it easier when printed. Thanks.

I wouldn't get too caught up in the version number. We still need to make minor changes to the front matter, but even when something called 1.0 appears, it will quickly be replaced by 1.01 and subsequent updates. This isn't final. It's just a step on the way.

I understand that it's a continuing process. I guess I was wrong to assume that when the post said that version 1.0 was available on the website that the download would actually say 1.0 (and be version 1.0), not pre-release version 0.90. Thanks, it looks great.

Paul, please consider charging more for the book once it goes out on ebook to Amazon et al, I bought the work-in-progress version being offered for $2+, and will be buying it again when it reaches Amazon, it's a good book and currently have to split it into 3 with the WhisperSync email service to easily install onto my Kindle. I for one would certainly be willing to pay around $8-16 on Amazon for a book like this, and I'm sure many others would be too. Hopefully you charge a lot more than the initial $2 you requested for the initial work-in-progress version. Keep up the good work Paul!

What I Use

Like many, I was hoping to see a new Lumia flagship before the end of 2014, and while I was pleasantly surprised in some ways by both the Lumia 735 and 830, neither offers the level of performance or best-in-market camera quality I had come to expected from Microsoft/Nokia's high-end devices. So I pulled the trigger on an unlocked Windows Phone flagship that will hopefully take me through at least the first half of this year. Or until Microsoft gets off its low-end fixation and satisfies the needs of its biggest fans....More

It's been a while since the last What I Use, but there haven't been many major changes since late last year: Surface Pro 3 has become my go-to travel companion, I've added a third cellphone line for testing Windows Phone, Android and iPhone side-by-side, and have rotated through some new tablets and other devices. We've also switched from FIOS to Comcast and added to our set-top box collection....More